Chapter Five || Babysteps

It was a week of quiet between the two of them. No case meant that they didn't have a reason professionally to see each other and personally they were avoiding each other at all costs. Booth was doing a pretty good job at wallowing in self misery in his office when Caroline Julian waltzed in with a worried look on her face. "Seeley Booth, we need to talk." She said sternly causing him to remove his feet from their previous position on his desk and sit up straight as the door was closed behind her and a piece of paper was laid on her desk. "Would you like to explain this?"

Staring down at his marriage certificate Booth's face went white as he looked at the prosecutor. "How did you get this? Who else knows?" He asked simply as his and Bones' signatures sent a pang through his heart.

"My question is how you expected me to not get ahold of this or what you were thinking of marrying your scientist partner! Like everything that goes on in you peoples lives, I find out about it. Now tell me what you're doing about it." She asked as Booth glared at her.

"What do you mean what I'm going to do about it? There are no rules against me and Bones being together, she's contracted not an agent. Besides, we don't exactly have an answer right now. It just sort of happened, we weren't planning it." He took Caroline's lack of comeback as a small win in what could have been a bigger blow up as he took the piece of paper and locked it in his desk. "Look, Caroline. We don't know what we're going to do yet. Can this be kept quiet? It's not exactly something I want out when I don't even know what we're doing yet."

The quiet of the prosecutor didn't last long "You don't know what you're doing? This is not like you Booth, you're judgement is better than this and if you think that getting married is something you can just sweep under the rug from the world you're probably right but you can't just pretend with her. I've never seen a partnership like you two's, and married or not I'd hate to see you mess that up."

Once she had walked out the door, Booth went back to his previous self pity before getting the certificate back out of the desk and sighing before picking up his phone to make a call. "Bones? Will you go out with me tonight? Yeah like a date. Perfect, see you soon." If they were going to figure things out between them they certainly had to start somewhere.

Temperance ran around her apartment as the clock struck seven and their was of course a very punctual knock on the door. She hated being that girl, but when she was nervous or wanted to look perfect she sometimes ran a little behind. Putting down the necklace she had been fighting with on the counter she opened the door with a smile. "Hey, I uh, come in." Booth clad in a handsome suit handed her a bouquet of daisies and daffodils chuckled at her.

"Now this is a first." He teased causing her to glare at him as she took the flowers and placed them in a vase before picking up her stubborn necklace once again. "Will you put this on me?" She asked with a smile. "I'm almost ready, promise. I apologize for my delay." Once the necklace was clasped she felt his hand linger along the base of her neck before removing it.

Once she was fully ready, she found her coat and smiled at her date. Having him ask her out had been a surprise to say the least but she found herself looking forward to seeing him all day. They hadn't spoken since the night in her apartment and while still conflicted she had been eager to see him.

He still had a smirk on his face regarding her tardiness and rolled her eyes at him as they made their way out to his suv and she easily found herself comfortable. "Where are we going?" She asked causing a chuckle from the driving seat. "If I were to tell you that it wouldn't be a surprise or a date now would it?"

Her anticipation grew stronger as he drove them just out of the city to a hole in the wall restaurant she had never heard of before. They were seated in a cozy corner in the back where a reservation plate sat on top of a well put together table made just for them. It was obvious that Booth had called in ahead of time to make sure things were perfect and she smiled at the gesture as they sat down.

"I must say I was surprised when you called, we haven't exactly spoken this week." Not that she blamed him for not wanting to make contact with her and probably him with her, but it was still nice that he had taken the initiative after their last conversation. "Does this mean you've made a decision regarding us?" She asked knowing it was premature to ask in their date but her nerves were getting the best of here.

He seemed like he was holding his breath as he leaned forward towards her. "I figured that we can't decide if we don't try." He murmured and she nodded in return. Her longing to be with him hadn't changed over the past week nor did her desire to stay married despite her feelings on it being barbaric. She had already considered calling Gordon Gordon regarding her obvious manic episode but didn't want to bring someone close to the both of them into it.

They were into their meal when he told her about Caroline Julian and panic rose through her. "Is the FBI going to sever our partnership?" She asked immediately, their partnership meant everything to her. It was the only stable thing she had ever had in her life. He was the only stable thing in her life.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Depends on what we decide and how they find out about it. If we don't stay married then there is nothing for them to know. There are no rules against contracted partners but I don't know. I don't have a lot of answers, Bones. I just thought you should know that Caroline knows."

She chewed on her lip and stared down at the rest of her meal suddenly not interested in finishing it. He wasn't very optimistic about the two of them as a couple, especially while on a date with her. It was almost as if their roles had flipped. She was the hopeless romantic and he was the one running away from the very thought of love. It hurt and it made for a very bad first date.